Burdened with the anxiety to ensure that the rhythm of their later years is pleasant, many young
people unknowingly seal doom upon themselves.

This three fatal
mistakes that I’m about to show you, aren’t new at all. Oh no, these are as old
as Adam and Eve in the garden, Jesus in the wilderness; yet as young as you and
I in the days of social media revolution.

One thing you must
know my dear, is that the old trickster and his tricks are still the same. He
simply changes the cast on his movie. Read:

If you would be
patient to read through these verses, you would most likely see beyond what I
will say/show you afterwards.

1 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness to be temptedby the devil.

2 After fasting
forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

3 The
tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these
stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus
answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every
word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”

5 Then
the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point
of the temple.

6 “If
you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He
will command his angels concerning you,and they will lift you up in their hands,so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered
him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

8 Again,
the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of
the world and their splendor.

9 “All
this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus
said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord
your God, and serve him only.’[e]”

11 Then
the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Mathew 4:1-11 (NIV)

From these verses,
we can say Jesus had three temptations right?

Jesus was in his
youth, on a mission and very human at the point of this temptation. The three
areas in which he got tested are still a test for young people who are on a mission,
in all generations to come.

Those areas are

1.The Crave Test:

The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Mathew 4:3

Jesus was hungry. In fact, he had every reason to have been hungry. Anyone
would be terribly hungry after a 40-day fast. His craving for bread was legit,
just as our craving for anything is legit.

As
young people and as humans, we crave sex, we crave food, we crave (name it).
Our cravings, desires are legitimate because we are humans.
However, the number one fatal mistake young people
make (that Jesus didn’t) is breaking principles to meet
needs/cravings.

Principles
are laws that govern life.

Stone
is stone and bread is bread. To make one become the other is to break God’s
principle of order. This is basically what magic is about (and God clearly
hates magic- Revelation 21:8, 22:15).

“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you,and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Anyone would
feel pumped up after that kind of fast. Jesus was definitely edified after the
fast. He was convinced of his identity, abilities and benefits. He could do
anything!

The
trickster was going to indite him into abusing his privilege as a son but Jesus
knew better.

The second fatal mistakes young people make is being careless with
their lives. Believing their actions doesn’t matter because God is always in
control.

If
Jesus had thrown himself from that height? He would have died!

He
was destined to die and how he died was CRUCIAL to his purpose (salvation of
mankind). If he died by falling off that height he would have ruined the
salvation plan.He was to die but the acceptable death was the death on a cross.

What’s
my point?

As
believers we are “free to live” or do anything. However, we must remember that
all things are permissible but not everything is beneficial (1 Corinthians
10:23).

You must first consider how your actions will affect the purpose of God
for your life and the many others attached to you.

Some
of us feel, we can live carelessly because the blood of Jesus is there to atone
for us. We forget that the same bible which says God is faithful and just to
forgive when we ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9), also says,” Be ye holy for I
am holy” (1 peter 1:16)

Don’t
take the privileges of sonship forgranted. It could end your journey prematurely.

8Again,
the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of
the world and their splendor. 9 “All
this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

These days, we don’t
need to go up any high mountain to become well acquainted with the glory of
this world. The vivid description of the world’s alluring splendor steadily
shows itself in the comfort of our homes; from cable television to instagram,
to facebook, twitter and fashion magazines. We can’t deny that we have seen
the glory of the world and its majesty.

I admit you may not
have heard the trickster apparently beckon on you to bow in worship to him in exchange for
the glory of this world but I bet you’ve met with systems that challenged your
convictions and resolved loyalty to the principles of God’s kingdom!

The fatal mistake young people make at this point, is to bow/submit to
satanic systems (most times paraded as social/cultural norms) in other to
become influential.

Some did it
thinking it was just a secret bow. It was too late when they realized that the trickster
never gives back what (the soul) he seizes.

Young people, we
will always get offers; Offers dressed up in lace and red hot stilettos; Offers
whirling in cups of destruction like champagne in a glass; we will always get
offers.

We will be asked to
give a little to get the trickster’s so called much.

The power,
influence, glory and so called prominence which the trickster offers is but a
rotten rag compared to the glory the father has in store for you (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Imagine that Jesus
bowed in exchange for the glory of the world. A then world, in which houses
were shapeless stones set upon rugged mountains.

Take a look at today’s
buildings. Can the buildings, political authourity and power of Jesus’ days be
compared to those of this present day?

I bet you said, NO!

Even you can see
that the trickster asked for something of eternal
worth (JESUS’ SOUL and REAL GLORY) in exchange for something of ephemeral worth (Insert that thing that seems like a big deal to you now).

I consider it a
huge privilege to be God’s mouthpiece on earth. I pretty much like that I have
to learn from Him and the capable others he has planted in my life while
passing on this knowledge to others as He wills. Being His
mouthpiece means I have to travel, meet people, and go to places are like or
not like (yes sometimes you don’t feel like being somewhere). This exposes me to a whole lot of information
and helps me build valuable relationships. I’ve been a guest
minister to many in the last twelve (12) years of my life. Pretty much since I was
a teenager. I’ll like to share with you a few things I believe young people
should never do when they are out as guest ministers. 1.Don’t Isolate yourself from responsibilities There
are times when the host might place you in their home or someone else’s rather
than a hotel. Most young people tend to cross their legs and wait for breakfast
in bed like the anointing would lift if they picked up a pin. When
you’re placed in a home rather tha…

“If
this life has anything to gain at all, I’ll count it lost if I can’t hear you
feel you, cause I need you…” rang my amazing ringtone by Lecrae. I
picked up the sleek darling to see who misses me. It was this pretty friend of
mine. Ada
(Not real name) and I met at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in our first
year. We had a lot in common and she was just my type (whatever that means)
LOL. Anyway, I was (and still am) literally and figuratively in love
with God and I noticed her heart was committed to God and His standards too. Well,
we graduated four years later and you know how life happens. We haven’t really
kept in touch for a while. I heard sometime back that she was engaged and I
called to say congratulations. We talked about how life had been
since after school and how we both are still fervently loving and serving the
Lord. She said her wedding was three months away and I told her I definitely
needed the aso-ebi (A uniform material sold to people who wish to attend an
event). T…